Like many desperate fly over anglers, a trip this direction was nothing but a bucket list item, no more than a retirement pipe dream, a last chance before you die trip to experience the “land of shining mountains”. As if a wish was finally granted from years of boyhood day dreaming, A naturally inviting opportunity arose a bit sooner than expected.. and I had a choice to make. Should I spend my entire summer fishing the famous watersheds in and around Missoula Montana? Well.. Let me ask you, what would you do if you had that chance? Without further hesitation I packed up my bags and dove right in.
To any angler, the pure potential of Montana is enough to overwhelm the senses. Most of these systems stretch on forever and you could drown yourself in a sea of maps trying to track down that perfect bite. When the angling possibilities are nearly endless, differentiating opportunities is by no means an easy task.This summer was long, and a lot transpired. The best way to encapsulate my time in this special place while maintaining some form of structure would be to break it down by chapter
Chapter one will be a brief look at the mostly overlooked blue lines snaking through every drainage. Next will be a look at the many and mighty roadside rivers that converge within Missoulas city limits. Now it wouldn’t be summer without a trip to the alpine, So chapter three will be a peek at the lonely blue dots smattered among the many towering peaks. Finally I will focus on the seldom seen backcountry options deep in the heart of the wilderness.
Searching high and Low and I mean Lolo, this video will pass over the lakes rivers and streams spanning from the bitterroot, to the clarks fork, and especially the Blackfoot drainage. This is by no means a comprehensive breakdown of everything Montana and subsequently Missoula has to offer, in reality I barely scratched the surface of this behemoth angling iceberg.
I’m going to do my best to recount each of these adventures and how it shaped the overall narrative of my summer in one of the trout fishing capitals of the world. I hope you enjoy the views as much as I did and maybe learn a thing or two about Montana along the way.
